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golfnut69
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I am sure much of what I will post has already been posted... I watched the game and came away impressed by the defense, very disappointed in overall special teams although they are light years better than anything CJ put on the field, QB play was Class 6A high school, with no fault of GC, he was not recruited to play this style of O in fact none of the these players were recruited for this O, so I will give a pass for the lack of offense and will judge it in two years....WR's at this time of development maybe a C there were some catchable balls that would have extended drives that were dropped...I do think the O line play has improved, but I am not a fan of the small line splits for this Offense..This team is 2 years away for being competitive...I thought the Officials blew some calls, especially the non Intentional grounding near the end zone...the ball was snapped from the 4 yard line...the "pass" only reached the 10 yard line, the original line of scrimmage, the ball should have been turned over to Tulane on a loss of down and no points for Memphis State...


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Eaglewave wrote:We really need some help on offense.
I really hate this offense. To me the only reason to run it is if you think you will never compete with the better teams and want to limit possessions. This will lead to getting to mediocre status quicker then levelling out. Also, it will never appeal to the average NO football fan which we need as a program to grow.
I was really hoping for a coaching hire with a wide open passing game to make the games fun again. Fritz is obviously a very good football coach who can instill discipline and execution on both sides of the ball. I just think the offense is very limiting. Think GT. They have peaked under Johnson. Maybe this is all we aspire to be, but it is boring to me as a fan.
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Jaxwave wrote:
Eaglewave wrote:We really need some help on offense.
I really hate this offense. To me the only reason to run it is if you think you will never compete with the better teams and want to limit possessions. This will lead to getting to mediocre status quicker then levelling out. Also, it will never appeal to the average NO football fan which we need as a program to grow.
I was really hoping for a coaching hire with a wide open passing game to make the games fun again. Fritz is obviously a very good football coach who can instill discipline and execution on both sides of the ball. I just think the offense is very limiting. Think GT. They have peaked under Johnson. Maybe this is all we aspire to be, but it is boring to me as a fan.
Makes me realize we don't have to worry about Fritz moving on to another program. The option won't allow you to win big when you step up in competition. You don't see it in the NFL and you don't see Top 20 programs running it. It will allow Tulane to play competitive Football as we have seen in every game this year and win enough for bowl eligibility, but that's as far as you can go with this system. It's far and away better than Toledo/CJ/Teevens. We aren't losing by four touchdowns at halftime. Even in a couple of years when Fritz has an entire roster recruited by his staff 8 or 9 wins will be the ceiling. I'll take it for now.
golfnut69
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Jaxwave wrote:
Eaglewave wrote:We really need some help on offense.
I really hate this offense. To me the only reason to run it is if you think you will never compete with the better teams and want to limit possessions. This will lead to getting to mediocre status quicker then levelling out. Also, it will never appeal to the average NO football fan which we need as a program to grow.
I was really hoping for a coaching hire with a wide open passing game to make the games fun again. Fritz is obviously a very good football coach who can instill discipline and execution on both sides of the ball. I just think the offense is very limiting. Think GT. They have peaked under Johnson. Maybe this is all we aspire to be, but it is boring to me as a fan.
I think Fritz's O will be very different in two years...he knows he has limited O ability so he is trying to shorten the game...that said I think this years recruiting class will be very telling....Fritz wants an O like the one UH runs, but does not have a QB to operate it...the two QB's signed last year one is redshiritng, the other will become a WR or a DB....U give a great deal of credit to GC but he is not a spread-option type of QB and may transfer after this year to an FCS school. I saw Fritz's teams from Sam Houston State, that was a true spread the field and option the defense, choose your poison, the run or the pass...
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golfnut69
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JerseyWave wrote:
Jaxwave wrote:
Eaglewave wrote:We really need some help on offense.
I really hate this offense. To me the only reason to run it is if you think you will never compete with the better teams and want to limit possessions. This will lead to getting to mediocre status quicker then levelling out. Also, it will never appeal to the average NO football fan which we need as a program to grow.
I was really hoping for a coaching hire with a wide open passing game to make the games fun again. Fritz is obviously a very good football coach who can instill discipline and execution on both sides of the ball. I just think the offense is very limiting. Think GT. They have peaked under Johnson. Maybe this is all we aspire to be, but it is boring to me as a fan.
Makes me realize we don't have to worry about Fritz moving on to another program. The option won't allow you to win big when you step up in competition. You don't see it in the NFL and you don't see Top 20 programs running it. It will allow Tulane to play competitive Football as we have seen in every game this year and win enough for bowl eligibility, but that's as far as you can go with this system. It's far and away better than Toledo/CJ/Teevens. We aren't losing by four touchdowns at halftime. Even in a couple of years when Fritz has an entire roster recruited by his staff 8 or 9 wins will be the ceiling. I'll take it for now.
U must despise the UH offense, because that is what Tulane will be using in two years..Fritz is trying to win with the players he now has, none of which were recruited for any type of option pass O....
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I think the goal this year is to shorten the game to allow us to be more competitive. Once WF gets what he needs you may see a different line of attack. I've always said we need to get better at the QB position. We beat Southern, UMASS and ULL. All teams we were favored to beat. I don't see us beating teams we're not favored over yet this season.
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golfnut69 wrote:
Jaxwave wrote:
Eaglewave wrote:We really need some help on offense.
I really hate this offense. To me the only reason to run it is if you think you will never compete with the better teams and want to limit possessions. This will lead to getting to mediocre status quicker then levelling out. Also, it will never appeal to the average NO football fan which we need as a program to grow.
I was really hoping for a coaching hire with a wide open passing game to make the games fun again. Fritz is obviously a very good football coach who can instill discipline and execution on both sides of the ball. I just think the offense is very limiting. Think GT. They have peaked under Johnson. Maybe this is all we aspire to be, but it is boring to me as a fan.
I think Fritz's O will be very different in two years...he knows he has limited O ability so he is trying to shorten the game...that said I think this years recruiting class will be very telling....Fritz wants an O like the one UH runs, but does not have a QB to operate it...the two QB's signed last year one is redshiritng, the other will become a WR or a DB....U give a great deal of credit to GC but he is not a spread-option type of QB and may transfer after this year to an FCS school. I saw Fritz's teams from Sam Houston State, that was a true spread the field and option the defense, choose your poison, the run or the pass...
I have to agree with 'nut, this is not a finished product. Fritz is working with what he has. Look at things from that perspective. He knows his team has a solid defense, and that his offense is limited because he doesn't have the right players to run it. And yet, he's doing what he can to make us competitive from game 1. He didn't come in here and say "we'll win in two years". He intends to win now, and he's using the resources he has to accomplish that. I am convinced that as he gets the players to run the offense he wants, we'll look totally different. Did anyone pay attention to what the Memphis coach said during the week prior to the game? He said they counted over 110 DIFFERENT formations that Tulane has run plays out of, and yet we make a minimal number of illegal formation mistakes. He said by comparison, Navy's got about a dozen. When we have all the pieces, we WILL be able to win track-meet type of games if necessary.
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golfnut69
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When U get the opportunity watch Oklahoma and Texas Tech....they RUN the football, yet they are considered "spread " offenses....that is why they have thousand yard rushers....many of which never make the NFL becasue they are too small or a fraction of a second too slow, but in the spread - read their talents are brought out ...this O is just what Tulane needs for the recruiting restrictions that are in place...the under the radar types....
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I'm really not sure what kind of miracles ppl around here were expecting in year 1 of Fritz. Strictly from a personnel perspective, Tulane is bottom 3rd in the conference and got worse there after a bunch of transfers last Spring. So essentially you've got inexperienced players running a foreign scheme and trying to make it work against players who are on average more talented and experienced than them.

We can talk about scheme and styles all we want, but the bottom line is execution. Navy and Geoegia Tech run pure triple option attacks, but are better it because they've got players who execute those plays.

The pro style and spread option attacks may be aesthetically pleasing, but if you've got a staff who can't teach it, or players not talented enough to run it, then whatever offense you think you want to run doesn't really matter.

Fritz and his offense have won as many games as CJ's Saints style O did last year, and I'd argue they've looked as good or better running the option in year 1 as CJ's team did in year 4.
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Jaxwave wrote:
Eaglewave wrote:We really need some help on offense.
I really hate this offense. To me the only reason to run it is if you think you will never compete with the better teams and want to limit possessions. This will lead to getting to mediocre status quicker then levelling out. Also, it will never appeal to the average NO football fan which we need as a program to grow.
I was really hoping for a coaching hire with a wide open passing game to make the games fun again. Fritz is obviously a very good football coach who can instill discipline and execution on both sides of the ball. I just think the offense is very limiting. Think GT. They have peaked under Johnson. Maybe this is all we aspire to be, but it is boring to me as a fan.
All the top coaches in the country are copying elements of Willie Fritz's system. The offense is not limiting, it's the players ability to execute the offense.
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GreenPuddleSplash wrote:
Ruski wrote:
GreenPuddleSplash wrote:
Ruski wrote:brutal. some how we did all the hard stuff right. and royally f**ked up the stuff that's supposed to be easy :x :x :x :x
Yeah that's a good assessment. On the bright side, we had a legitimate chance going into the 4th quarter whereas last year, we were long gone by the 4th.
Just feel terrible for the defense. How many of them are seniors?
We are losing Tanzel Smart, Nico Marley, and Allen Richard on defense after this year. Tanzel and Nico are huge contributors and probably will be playing on sunday.
Nico has little or no chance to play on Sunday. Like his Daddy, Rohan, he's way too small to play in the NFL. He's a very good college player, but would get killed in the league where the play for pay.
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BAYWAVE&Sophandros are SPINELESS COWARDS
YOU NEED LEVERAGE TO BE PROACTIVE!
Small time facilities for small time programs
6-4-23:Now all of the mistakes Tulane has made finally catches up with them as they descend to CUSAAC.
winwave
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Blunders and more:

http://www.nola.com/tulane/index.ssf/20 ... iver_index

What was really disappointing was how that small back just swatted Harper away like a gnat.
BAYWAVE&Sophandros are SPINELESS COWARDS
YOU NEED LEVERAGE TO BE PROACTIVE!
Small time facilities for small time programs
6-4-23:Now all of the mistakes Tulane has made finally catches up with them as they descend to CUSAAC.
jonathanjoseph
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That sucked. We should have won that game.

The story was similar to game 1, where the defense forced GC to keep making GC run the ball rather than our RBs. GC needs to force the pitch more often. Had a few of those not-pitched turned into 1st downs we might have kept our defense fresh enough for the 4th quarter. But GCs limitations as a runner in this offense were on display.

The OL is really improved.

Wow is the defense good. What a shame. Memphis was averaging 43 points and except for 2 big plays when we were worn down we basically shut that offense down. Any semblance of offense and we win.

The bright side is that this may keep the bigger programs away from WF for another year.

It's obvious where our talent issues lie. That our recruiting continues to trend downward is very disappointing. To see Sean Wilson's younger brother line up for Memphis because we couldn't sign him is very frustrating, and shows that there are still some fundamental institutional problems that need to be overcome.
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DfromCT wrote:
GreenPuddleSplash wrote:
Ruski wrote:
GreenPuddleSplash wrote:
Ruski wrote:brutal. some how we did all the hard stuff right. and royally f**ked up the stuff that's supposed to be easy :x :x :x :x
Yeah that's a good assessment. On the bright side, we had a legitimate chance going into the 4th quarter whereas last year, we were long gone by the 4th.
Just feel terrible for the defense. How many of them are seniors?
We are losing Tanzel Smart, Nico Marley, and Allen Richard on defense after this year. Tanzel and Nico are huge contributors and probably will be playing on sunday.
Nico has little or no chance to play on Sunday. Like his Daddy, Rohan, he's way too small to play in the NFL. He's a very good college player, but would get killed in the league where the play for pay.
Wrong. If this were still the 1980's when Rohan played, you'd be correct. But this new NFL values the hybrid safety/linebackers (i.e. Sua Cravens) so Marley will get a shot. Whether or not he has the speed to cover NFL players in space is TBD but he will definitely get a shot.
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golfnut69 wrote:When U get the opportunity watch Oklahoma and Texas Tech....they RUN the football, yet they are considered "spread " offenses....that is why they have thousand yard rushers....many of which never make the NFL becasue they are too small or a fraction of a second too slow, but in the spread - read their talents are brought out ...this O is just what Tulane needs for the recruiting restrictions that are in place...the under the radar types....
There are no recruiting restrictions in place. CJ just recruited too many kids that didn't have the discipline it takes to be winners, and was a terrible coach to boot.
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jonathanjoseph wrote: Wrong. If this were still the 1980's when Rohan played, you'd be correct. But this new NFL values the hybrid safety/linebackers (i.e. Sua Cravens) so Marley will get a shot. Whether or not he has the speed to cover NFL players in space is TBD but he will definitely get a shot.
Boy did you pick the WRONG example, JJ.

There have been some players Nico's size on OFFENSE. Not on D, which is exclusively where Nico (like his father) plays. Su'a Cravens, a Redskins linebacker/safety, happens to be 6'1" tall, a full 6 inches taller than Nico (who was listed at 5'7" his first three years.) He also weighs in at 216, versus Nico's weight of 181. Half a foot in height and 37 lbs in weight make for a much different player. How would he do taking on a 260 lb fullback, or better yet, 275 lb QB? (That's a full foot taller than Nico?)

Go ahead and change your argument, bring in some sort of sports marketing metric, and then tell us all that you never argued that Nico wasn't undersized. Frankly, if you watched the game last night, despite making some very good plays, Nico got tossed around like a rag doll on at least half a dozen plays.
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The special teams break downs were disapointing but overall the team is better coached than any Tulane team in 20 years
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JerseyWave wrote:
Jaxwave wrote:
Eaglewave wrote:We really need some help on offense.
I really hate this offense. To me the only reason to run it is if you think you will never compete with the better teams and want to limit possessions. This will lead to getting to mediocre status quicker then levelling out. Also, it will never appeal to the average NO football fan which we need as a program to grow.
I was really hoping for a coaching hire with a wide open passing game to make the games fun again. Fritz is obviously a very good football coach who can instill discipline and execution on both sides of the ball. I just think the offense is very limiting. Think GT. They have peaked under Johnson. Maybe this is all we aspire to be, but it is boring to me as a fan.
Makes me realize we don't have to worry about Fritz moving on to another program. The option won't allow you to win big when you step up in competition. You don't see it in the NFL and you don't see Top 20 programs running it. It will allow Tulane to play competitive Football as we have seen in every game this year and win enough for bowl eligibility, but that's as far as you can go with this system. It's far and away better than Toledo/CJ/Teevens. We aren't losing by four touchdowns at halftime. Even in a couple of years when Fritz has an entire roster recruited by his staff 8 or 9 wins will be the ceiling. I'll take it for now.
G5 teams don't have the O-linemen to run anything else. Good O-linemen are the rarest of players and almost all go P5.
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jonathanjoseph wrote:
Jaxwave wrote:
Eaglewave wrote:We really need some help on offense.
I really hate this offense. To me the only reason to run it is if you think you will never compete with the better teams and want to limit possessions. This will lead to getting to mediocre status quicker then levelling out. Also, it will never appeal to the average NO football fan which we need as a program to grow.
I was really hoping for a coaching hire with a wide open passing game to make the games fun again. Fritz is obviously a very good football coach who can instill discipline and execution on both sides of the ball. I just think the offense is very limiting. Think GT. They have peaked under Johnson. Maybe this is all we aspire to be, but it is boring to me as a fan.
All the top coaches in the country are copying elements of Willie Fritz's system. The offense is not limiting, it's the players ability to execute the offense.
This X100000000. People complaining about our offense right now are feeding into the announcers saying we want to run the triple option. That is COMPLETELY FALSE. Our offense is closer to RPO (Run Pass Option) offense based on spread offense principals than Navy/Army/Georgia Southern/Ga Tech's Wishbone triple option. The only thing we do much differently than Houston's RPO is we line up in a WISHBONE SHOTGUN formation as our base offense, whereas Houston runs mainly in shotgun Pistol formation....

And the reason we run a lot more, is because we are limited in our passing capabilities based on our personnel (qb and lineman).
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Me and the family flew into NOLA for this game. Overall the performance was not CJ bad, but the special teams were extremely disappointing. We stayed for the whole game, which is more than I can say for the last two years of CJ games we attended. Several random observations/opinions:
- Marbley was a beast on defense. That is the best game I've seen him play. Nickerson, Aruna, Smart and even Wilson also had good games. Was Harris injured? I didn't notice him in the game.
- #25 for the Memphis defense was almost in on every tackle. The guy was a guided missile
- #75's holding penalty for Tulane killed what little hope we had with 11mins in the game to claw back.
- Lazedrick could not be stopped in the 2nd and 3rd Qtr; even on runs up the middle he was moving the pile 4 yards. Seemed strange we went to throwing or running Hilliard or Rounds on short yardage 3rd and 4th downs in the 4th Qtr
- Burn that uniform combination and the comb-over T. Let's go with the Angry Wave exclusively. The comb-over T reminds me too much of Dickson.
- The Memphis Band was good and put on a great show at halftime. If the Tulane Band niche is to be smaller and more sophisticated, then either get rid of the flag girls/guys or make them practice much more on synchronizing their routines. It was embarrassing seeing them so out of sync with each other.
- The PA volume seemed to a bit louder as opposed to the ULaLa game in which you wouldn't have even known there was a PA system.
- Hopefully we can get our mojo back on punt returns. It seemed as if even Mooney who replaced Hilliard didn't want any part of trying to catch the ball. Hopefully Fritz will have them chasing down a couple of 100 punt reps with players bearing down on them in practice.
- Students that attended despite the fall break at Tulane, actually stayed to the end. Well done for the students (non-Tulane - Local colleges?) who did attend.
- Overall an improved product on the field that will keep us coming back despite the loss.
"There is winning and there is misery". BP
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golfnut69 wrote:The special teams break downs were disapointing but overall the team is better coached than any Tulane team in 20 years
I agree with this. We will be a tough out when we get the talent to run this offense.
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Wavetime wrote:
golfnut69 wrote:The special teams break downs were disapointing but overall the team is better coached than any Tulane team in 20 years
I agree with this. We will be a tough out when we get the talent to run this offense.
We get to see if Fritz is the real deal next weekend since he coaches ST personally and ST was flat out the bad kind of special... I believe it will definitely be corrected, but dain was that depressing after I thought we turned a corner on ST.
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Once again we've squandered a really good defense that will not be the same next year without some mature JUCO additions to the interior d-line. The guys we have returning inside next year are going to experience a rude awakening to what life is like without Tanzel.
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wave97 wrote:Once again we've squandered a really good defense that will not be the same next year without some mature JUCO additions to the interior d-line. The guys we have returning inside next year are going to experience a rude awakening to what life is like without Tanzel.
I agree that our D is pretty good. At the same time, we all knew going in that there were big issues with the Offense. We didn't have a QB on the roster that had taken a meaningful collegiate snap. We lost almost every WR on the roster, and our Offensive line which was one of the worst in D1 the last two years was going to be forced to learn a new system. Of course there's going to be growing pains. Virtually every aspect of the program has changed, and we were undermanned to the point that Coach Fritz couldn't really scrimmage.

Despite all of that, this team is much better than it was a year ago. Yes, we still make some bad plays, but the last two years of CJ football were down right embarrassing.
" If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day.." Jimmy V
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